My question: Of the coaching jobs, whose was worse? To Bowden’s credit, Alabama is ranked and coached by Saban. They’ve got more talent than UCLA, but Clemson also has more talent than either.

To Fulmer’s credit: Well, I can’t find much. He’s got a new QB, but he chose the QB, and he continued to allow his offensive coordinator to call pass after pass when the pass wasn’t working and the halfbacks were getting six yards every carry.

Any thoughts? My vote is for UT, but I’m a fan, so I may be biased.

With that said, here’s a few thoughts on what’s transpired thus far.

Jackonsville State 14, Georgia Tech 41: The Jackets were able to run for 385 yards in its first game running the triple option. You don’t watch a D-I school beat Jackonsville State and say a system will work, but if Thursday night was an indication, then the system will work.

UGA 45, Georgia Southern 21: This isn’t the kind of game you want to see from the No. 1 team in the nation. That offensive line of Georgia has got to be a question mark.

Youngstown State 0, Ohio State 43: The biggest thing about this game wasn’t the score but the health of Chris Wells. If he’s out for a duration of time, and from what I saw from USC, you’ve gotta give the Trojans the nod during their showdown in two weeks.

USC 52, Virginia 7: Ouch. The ACC really showed that they’re an inferior conference this weekend.

Chattanooga 2, Oklahoma 57: Sadly, the score wasn’t even this close. It was 50-0 at halftime, and then the reserves came in.

Hawaii 10, Florida 56: They didn’t look as sharp as I expeted, but keep in mind that Percy Harvin is still out, but expected to play next week against Miami.

Illinois 42, Missouri 52: Chase Daniel had 323 yards and 3 touchdowns. As good a start as that was, he was outplayed by Juice Williams, who had over 400 yards throwing and 5 TD’s.

Appalachian State 13, LSU 41: There wasn’t going to be another miracle this year. Not against that defensive size and speed.

Villanova 21, West Virginia 48: They’re one of the teams I’ve said will play in the BCS Title game. It wasn’t the best showing, but a win’s a win.

Alabama 34, Clemson 10: Again: The ACC just didn’t show up. The Clemson game was never close, and Tommy Bowden proves again why you can’t rely on Tommy Bowden. You can’t say Alabama has more talent, but they sure did look like it Saturday night.

Louisiana Monroe 0, Auburn 34: I watched this game, and though the score shows a blowout, this game was a lot closer. Auburn’s offense never did click, and that’s hopefully just some rust in the new spread system they’re implementing.

Northern Arizona 13, Arizona State 30: Does anyone really think Arizona State will beat UGA? I hope they do, but I’m not really buying into it.

Virginia Tech 22, East Carolina 27: Again: Wake up, ACC.

Washington 10, Oregon 44: Say goodbye to Ty Willingham. He’s on thin ice as is, and losing by 34 points in the opener isn’t the way to start the season.

ESPN has a group of “experts” together to make their picks, and they range widely. There’s a common theme of teams in the BCS Title game: Oklahoma, UGA, Florida, USC, Ohio State, Georgia, and one brave soul picking Missouri, but some of the picks seem off. Two people say Ohio State will win it, and if there’s anything history’s taught us about Ohio State being in a national title game, it’s that won’t not just win, but they’ll get absolutely blown out.

To Todd McShay’s credit — he picked THE Ohio State University to win it all — he at least has them victors over Oklahoma, and not a team from the SEC. Other predictions throughout:

-If they’re right, Clemson will dominate the ACC. If I’m right, Clemson will be a dark horse all year long, and maybe the team that busts the BCS (think Auburn a few years back when they went undefeated in the SEC and got shafted). If Clemson beats Alabama, they’ll be a decent sized favorite the rest of the year.

-Recent odds calculated Georgia of having a 6.2 percent chance of reaching the BCS Title game. It seems low until you look at their schedule, and then you have to wonder if Vegas shot a little high. They play at South Carolina, at Arizona State, Tennessee and Alabama in back-to-back-to-back-to-back games. They get a breather with Vandy, and then it’s off to a gauntlet the likes college football has never seen: At LSU, Florida in Jacksonville — and don’t think Mighty Tim Tebow has forgotten last year — Kentucky in Lexington and then Auburn on the road. So, if you think they’ve got a 6.2 percent chance of going undefeated or only losing one, then you’re clearly no mathmetician, and you’re obviously a tad insane.

-Pittsburgh and South Florida are being picked to win the Big East. Have we forgotten about West Virginia? The team that was one game away from playing for the national title? I know South Florida has had WVU’s number over the last couple of years, but if you think they’re going to have an overall better record than WVU, then you’re smoking that same stuff the guys and gals at UGA are.

-Oklahoma seems to be a lock by these guys to win the Big 12. Missouri has a lot of talent returning, and OU is kind of notorious for late season melt downs (of course, that usually happens in a bowl game).

-Where’s some pub on my Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets? No love for my Tennessee Vols? These guys don’t know anything.

Signings have come and gone, except for Terrelle Pryor, who has decided to continue torching the Wolverines and Buckeyes with patience, and there were a few surprises. A Georgia Tight End, whose name I don’t know because he’s going to Georgia and he’s only in high school, screwed the Dogs and went to Clemson instead.

Look: I don’t keep up with college football recruiting much. To me, it’s one of those things that’s a lot of hype and not a lot of substance. So many of these kids come in highly recruited and we never hear from them; others, kids that were three and four stars, blow up in college and end up the best players in the NFL. Regardless, I’m forced to do a job, even if it’s half-ass. Here’s the Top 5 recruiting classes this year, according to ESPN.

1. Miami Hurricanes
2. Clemson Tigers
3. Florida “Urban Meyer Pays Well” Gators
4. Alabama Crimson Tide
5. Georgia “We Would Be Better If It Wasn’t For Clemson” Bulldogs

According to Rivals, here’s how it goes:

1. Alabama
2. Notre Dame
3. Florida
4. Miami
5. Oklahoma

Like I said: I don’t think recruiting means that much. How they play against another level is something Rivals or ESPN can’t tell us. That said, it’s nice to see Miami getting talent again. There was something always fun about watching a team with speed, and then watching Miami. It’s the old saying: “There’s speed, and then there’s Miami speed.” Say hello to seven more 1st Round NFL Draft Picks.

-Emerald Bowl, Dec. 28: Georgia Tech vs. Cal

• Most across the nation won’t find this to be too spectacular a game to watch, but I’m a Tech fan, so I couldn’t leave it off the list. And if I’m lucky, Chan Gailey won’t be coaching it.

-Independence Bowl, Dec. 30: Colorado vs. Alabama

• If Saban loses this one, shit may officially hit the fan in Tuscaloosa. They were so snotty and snide about hiring Nick Saban, and were sure that he’s the best coach in the entire nation, but after three straight losses, the wheels appear to be falling off.

-Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. Clemson

• This one appears to be set in stone, but it’s not quite official yet. Auburn has a pretty good run defense, but had a hard time containing KnowShaun Moreno, which might make it very difficult on them trying to contain James Davis and CJ Spiller, who, to me, is arguably the fastest player in college football. ACC/SEC games are always fun to watch, though, as VT and UGA proved last year.

-Capital One, Jan. 1: Illinois vs. Florida

• If there’s one team Florida doesn’t want to play, it’s Illionis. It’s not that they can’t beat Illinois — because they most certainly can — it’s that they don’t want to play a team that’s good who’s coached by Ron Zook. FireRonZook.com was a pretty big hit during his days as a Gator, and what more humiliating way to end a season than by losing to the guy that you ran out of town who took over a formerly cruddy program? Oh, and this game may also feature this year’s Heisman winner (Tim Tebow), and next year’s Heisman winner (Juice Williams)

-Outback, Jan 1: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin

• Last year’s game between these two was solid, and based on Tennessee’s inability to stop anybody on the road, you’d have to think it’d be a fun shoot-out to watch this year, as well.

-Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Ohio State vs. USC

• USC hasn’t really been itself this year, and Ohio State, to me, has been vastly overrated. I guess this will give full closure. I hate the Trojans, but I’ll be rooting for them; Ohio State has been the most overrated team for the last two years.

-Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: VT vs. Georgia

• Last year’s Peach Bowl game was great to watch, and it was spiced up even more back in August when VT accused UGA of spying on them during practice. Georgia has a great running offense, and VT has a great running defense. Read earlier what I said about SEC/ACC games — they’re very fun to watch.

-National Championship Game, Jan. 7: Mizzou vs. West Virginia

• West Virginia was the team I called at the beginning of the year, and throughout the season I’ve thought they were the best team. Their defense isn’t the best thing since sliced bread, but that offense quite possibly is. Mizzou looked great against Kansas, but no one really knew how good or bad Kansas was. We all know how good West Virginia is. It’ll be fun, but Pat White and Steve Slaton will be holding the trophy up later on that night.

To add to the misery of their last three days, this was the first time since the creation of the AP Poll that a team ranked as high as number 5 lost one game and dropped completely out. So, Lloyd, no pressure or anything.

The Vols dropped to 23 (previously 18), and Clemson, No. 25, and Georgia Tech, No. 21, both moved into the Top 25 after their respective beatings of once respected powerhouses.

This weekend went well. I take that back; maybe not well, but it didn’t go bad, and any time you gamble things not going bad can often be considered very good. I was 2-2. My first two games of the weekend I was 2-0, thinking 3-0 all the way, but Tennessee fell way short to Cal and I splurged on Labor Day at a game I wasn’t really sure about (I find I do this when only one game’s on; I won’t know much about either team, but still feel this pressing need to make a bet on it).

All in all, I broke even. Even’s not bad. It’s better than down. It’s not what I shoot for — last year I finished better than 60% — but it’s certainly something I’ll settle for, especially on the first weekend. Because on the first weekend things happen that don’t happen on the last weekend. This is what I learned, good and bad.

-Georgia Tech isn’t as good as the 33-3 score would indicate. I mean that. I’m a Tech fan, and I wish they were that good, but they aren’t. Their defense looked fast and Tashard Choice looked as if he could run around anybody. But Taylor Bennett, who was supposed to end our four years of quarterback disasters, looked more like a high school quarterback than a college QB. We played against a QB who’s got about two snaps of gameday experience, against an offensive line that had three new starters. I wish every game would be as easy as this first one, but it won’t be; partly because there’ll be better teams than Notre Dame, and partly because Georgia Tech isn’t as good as a first week’s score would indicate.

-Tennessee doesn’t know how to tackle. I was half-coherent watching this game (I boozed through the GT game, then drank a bottle of cham-pag-ne after the win), and I think my drunk, stumbling, unathletic body could’ve made better tackles than some of the UT players did. Who would’ve thought a defense that gave up nothing to Cal last year would give up so much this year? Tennessee’s got Army, then Florida, then the rest of the SEC. It’s going to be up hill from here.

-LSU vs. VT is going to be an all-out defensive war. I know LSU had 45 points, which initially makes you think Matt Flynn is awesome and that ground game’s got nothing to worry about, but think again: If it wasn’t for five picks, that game wouldn’t have been the blowout the final scoreboard exhibited. VT struggled with Eastern Carolina, but the defense looked fine. The early nod’s got to be to LSU, but I think this game’s going to come down to the wire.

-FSU isn’t that good anymore. I bet on FSU because I grew up in an age where FSU, even if they didn’t have the greatest scheme or coaching, always had the best athletes. That simply isn’t the case anymore. I watched last night’s game the way through. All along, all I could ask myself was this: “Did these guys really work all month long, and in that time are these really the best offensive linemen they could put on the field?” Going into the game, I was worried about Drew Weatherford; he’s very erratic, and often inaccurate. He didn’t look great in this game, but Peyton Manning would’ve looked less than superhuman if his offensive line blocked as poorly as these guys did.

-I didn’t bet on the game, but I can’t believe Michigan’s really that bad. They better get used to going on the road and seeing a lot of App. State hats and t-shirts.

How I’m Doing:
This Week: 2-1
On The Year: 2-1

It’s not often that I run specials, but this weekend is, well, special: After going 3-0 on Saturday (that pick I had of Tennessee. . . I wasn’t serious; you were supposed to figure that out), I figure I’ll test my run of luck today with a game that used to draw national headlines, and now only gets attention because it’s the only game of the day.

-Florida State (-3) @ Clemson

This will mark the third consecutive game that I’ve taken the road team. But this weekend I was 2-1 (1-1 on the road), and had Tennessee remembered what a tackle was I might have pulled the trifecta.

Clemson returns the best running back tandem in the nation with James Davis and CJ Spiller. According to sources, Davis will be more of a feature back, and they’ll try to get Spiller out in open space to do his thing (which is run really, really fast). The problem is that Clemson starts its third new quarterback in as many years, and this new quarterback doesn’t have Chaunsi Stuckey to throw to.

FSU, on the other hand, has always had the athletes, but unfortunately had daddy’s sons coaching them. Not the case this year. LSU’s offense, even scoring 45 points, looked slow without Jimbo Fischer. And now he’s the guy coaching Drew Weatherford.

The guy coaching the other team? Yeah, that’s daddy’s son. Punt the field goal, ‘Noles cover.